Modern demand for faster and more powerful air transportation has resulted in larger and heavier gas turbine engines powering aircraft. Neither the existing manufacturing and repair facilities for gas turbine engines nor the moving vehicles that transport gas turbine engines are equipped to accommodate newer, much larger and heavier gas turbine engines, such as the PW4000 series of engines, manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, division of United Technologies, Hartford, Conn., the assignee of the present invention.
Conventional repair and manufacturing facilities are usually immovable buildings and include numerous support beams mounted on the ceiling of the facility in order to suspend hoists therefrom. The hoists are necessary for fabricating and repairing gas turbine engines, since various sections of the gas turbine engine must be suspended and supported by hoists during the gas turbine engine assembly or disassembly. The ceilings of the existing facilities are not strong enough to support the heavier modern engines. To accommodate these newer engines, the roofs of the existing facilities would have to be reinforced to avoid the collapse thereof. Additionally, the floor layout of existing facilities cannot accommodate larger engines. For example, the isles of the existing facilities are only slightly wider than the diameter of the newer engines. It is cost prohibitive and time consuming to re-engineer the existing facilities and to reinforce the ceiling, especially for smaller repair shops.
Furthermore, conventional engine moving vehicles were intended for smaller, conventional gas turbine engines and cannot accommodate the newer gas turbine engines that have increased size and weight. Also, conventional movers are towed and are not easily maneuverable in the narrow isles of existing shops. Additionally, operators of conventional movers must load gas turbine engines from a suspended position onto the mover manually. With heavier and larger engines the task becomes even more labor intensive than with the smaller conventional engines.
Presently, there is no means to service gas turbine engines in close proximity to airplanes. The gas turbine engines must be removed from the airplane and transported into a repair shop for necessary tests and repair. It would be desirable to have the capability to service these engines near the airplane.